US Supreme Court upholds law banning TikTok
The US Supreme Court a law confirmed on Friday that could lead to one Ban on TikTok this Sunday in the United States.
“There is no doubt that TikTok provides a unique and far-reaching outlet for expression, a means of engagement, and a source of community for more than 170 million Americans,” the court’s unanimous opinion said. “But Congress has determined that divestiture is necessary to address its well-founded national security concerns about TikTok’s data collection practices and relationship with a foreign adversary.”
TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but the company reportedly plans to do so Quit the app For US users, the deadline for an extension expires on Sunday.
For more than five years, U.S. government officials have tried to ban or force the sale of TikTok, accusing the Chinese company of sharing American user data with the Chinese government and filling feeds with pro-Chinese propaganda. Congress and agencies like the FBI have not provided the public with much information confirming these claims, but have pursued various methods to ban TikTok.
In 2020, former President Donald Trump made his first attempt on TikTok through a failed executive order. Ultimately, on April 24, 2024, President Joe Biden signed a bill requiring TikTok’s parent company, Byteance, to sell the app to an American owner by January 19 or remove it from U.S. app stores. To fight the ban, TikTok and a group of YouTubers quickly filed lawsuits against the Justice Department, arguing that the law, the Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, violated their First Amendment rights.
At Friday’s hearing, TikTok’s lawyer Noel Francisco and Jeffrey Fisher, who represents the creators, tried to make this argument clear. For the government, Attorney General Elizabeth Prelogar argued that the law did not violate the defendants’ free speech rights and instead separated the app from Bytedance and Chinese influence.
“Without a doubt, the remedy that Congress and the President have chosen here is dramatic,” Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in a concurring opinion. “I don’t know whether this law will achieve its goals. A determined foreign adversary could simply attempt to replace a losing surveillance application with another. As time passes and threats evolve, less dramatic and more effective solutions may emerge.”
The law allows Biden to extend the Jan. 19 deadline by another 90 days as long as Bytedance is close to being sold. As of Wednesday, the Biden administration supposedly looking for ways to save the app but has not announced anything publicly. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from WIRED on Friday. A handful of US-based financiers have lined up to buy the app, including former LA Dodgers owner Frank McCourt. Kevin O’Leary or Mr. Wonderful, by Shark tank Fame, has agreed with McCourt’s suggestion and recently met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago.
“We have a formal offer on the table with ByteDance. We stand ready to work with the company and President Trump to get a deal done. Together, we can make TikTok a clean tech stack and turn this national security issue into a major win for Americans,” McCourt said in a statement about the decision on Friday.
